CEO of the Year, New York

Since the day its Latin root was first coined, the word “super” has always meant the same thing. Above. Beyond. Better. Including Super in the company’s name was their deliberate choice. To say to their prospects, their industry and themselves that SuperDerivatives wasn’t just another resource, but an extraordinary one. Super sets a bar they have to live up to every day, and establishes an expectation in the eyes of their clients that they will receive from the firm the absolute highest level of solutions andservices, so they can make consistently smarter and better decisions. Super means smartest, fastest and best. It isn’t just a word to SuperDerivatives, it’s the way they do business.

HistoryFounded in 2000, SuperDerivatives has repeatedly brought technology and services to the market that have been ground breaking and revolutionary. It was the first company to deliver professional financial systems entirely over the internet. SuperDerivatives proprietary analytics and market data had the firm widely recognised as the benchmark for optionpricing; this work in OTC market transparency led many industry observers to comment on the contribution SuperDerivatives has made to the growth in derivatives volume.

In 2004 the company established a market data division publishing implied data from the OTC markets utilising its expertise in market observations and analytics to provide clean, smooth volatility surfaces based on market activity. This was followed by an independent valuation service capable of pricing anything in the markets.

Advances in risk analysis and pre-trade tools culminated in 2010 with the launch of the world’s most advanced cross-asset derivatives pricing, structuring and pre-trade analysis system, SDX. This multi-award winning system included specific modules for traders, sales people and structurers and became the corner stone for specialist modules for corporate treasurers, middle office analysts and risk managers.

In 2011 SuperDerivatives launched the world’s first anonymous, multi-bank trading system for FX options in partnership with FXCM Pro and this was followed in 2012 by the launch of a market data platform, DGX, that is beginning to transform the way the markets view, access and manage news, chat, cash and derivatives data

Market DataSuperDerivatives has, for some time, been recognised as the leader in the derivatives market data, and now aims to become the leader in all aspects of market data. DGX, has already been recognised as the most innovative, technologically advanced market data platform in the world.

Valuation ServicesIndependent valuation of any traded market risk position regardless of its complexity. All backed by innovative technology to support the workflow of valuation departments.

The CloudSuperDerivatives has been delivering cloud services since its inception, before anyone coined the term ‘the cloud’. Everything they do has been designed from the outset to operate over the internet. The company is a regular early adopter of the very latest browser, server management and database technology to deliver optimal performance at the best possible price points. SuperDerivatives’ board of directors combines financial expertise with technological innovation to guide the company’s strategic direction, drawing from backgrounds in banking, corporate treasury, options trading, hedge funds and venture capital. Their educated interpretation of the financial markets identifies opportunities to increase the profitability of customers’ derivatives business.

Dr. David GershonDr. David Gershon is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, indeed he founded SuperDerivatives in 2000 with the aim of introducing transparency to the world of options. Since then, the company has expanded rapidly to have a strong global presence and is today recognised as the benchmark for option pricing and a market leader in derivatives technology including front end platforms, risk management systems, revaluation services and online execution utilities.

Dr. Gershon’s vision to bring transparency to the world of options has materialised with a significant part of derivatives professionals all over the world utilise SuperDerivatives platforms for their day to day activities. Furthermore, many industry observers credit SuperDerivatives for the sizeable growth in the number of options users over the past couple of years and the dramatic increase in liquidity.

Prior to starting SuperDerivatives, Dr. Gershon was Global Head of FX Exotic Options for Barclays Capital, based in the bank’s London headquarters. Earlier in his career he had traded at BZW New York (later to become Barclays Capital), covering emerging markets during their most volatile periods, and at Deutsche Bank in New York. Gershon’s career on Wall Street began in 1994 in NationsBank’s mortgage department.

Dr. Gershon has a Ph.D. in theoretical physics (Superstring theory), an MBA and an M.Sc. in Finance. The combination of his academicbackground and rich market experience has proved fundamental in the development of the patented SuperDerivatives benchmark pricing model for options, which uniquely provides an accurate reflection of the bid and offer prices of options in the inter-bank market in all asset classes.

Foreign Exchange overview

• FX ServicesSuperDerivatives supports the FX derivative market with platforms tailored for trading, sales and risk management, as well as offering an electronic FX Option trading facility. They are also the global leader in OTC FX market data and independent valuationsand they cover all traded currency pairs with deep, rich market data and cutting edge functionality.

• Trading productsThe leader in the FX derivative market, SuperDerivatives pricing capabilities on a vast range of instruments and structures across the entire spectrum of currency pairs are recognised as second to none. They have also recently introduced enhanced risk management functionality and launched DCX in partnership with FXCM.

• Incomparable pricing analyticsWith its continuously calibrated pricing models and award winning market data, SDX is the most accurate market price generator for every option type, currency pair or strike level being computed. Bid-ask prices for options truly reflect the inter-bank broker market. SDX includes all popular market models in addition to the SuperDerivatives model.

• Structuring toolsSDX provides an easy to use tool to create bespoke structures from combinations and strips of instruments, linking their parameters with formulas, customising fields and then locking down the structure for repeated use.

• DCX, trade execution directly from the platformDCX is the only FX Option trading platform to comply with the expected SEF rules as a result of its ability to seek prices from multiple sources simultaneously. All SDX financial customers can add the DCX module at no extra charge as it plugs seamlessly into the system, making it the most complete front office trading platform available. Once you have opened your account you willbe able to request real tradable prices from the market and place your own bids and offers, all executable at asingle click with no brokerage. With the DCX extension you will be able to reach and trade with a great range of counterparties, all cleared through a central account.

• Market dataTheir FX market data is subject to a robust analytical process which runs 24 hours a day in order to cover the entire currency pair universe. The team emulates the processes followed by trading desks when constructing curves and surfaces.

• Clarity in OTC marketsEvery traded CCY pair, implied volatility surfaces for every traded CCY pair, 1 delta puts to 1 delta calls, tenors: 1 day to 30 years (5 years for non-liquids), implied and historical correlations: up to 15 years of history.

• Independent valuationsThe firm are trusted throughout the industry for their model and data independent valuations of derivatives, and their ability to process everything in the equity derivatives market from vanilla to extremely complex structured transactions. Commodities and Energy services overview SuperDerivatives provides trading banks, hedge funds, producers, suppliers, FCMs, introducingbrokers, CTAs and end users with a configurable front and middle office platform across multiple commodities. Their vast array of instruments, asset coverage, real time and award winning OTC market data and fast and compliant valuation services offers their clients a truly superior set of tools and services.

• Fast, adaptable and cost effective.The growing complexity and regulatory requirements of the energy and commodity markets has led to an increasing number of instruments and trading changes, creating a subsequent need for more transparent and efficient ways to manage them. SDX, at the cutting edge of product innovation, is committed to quickly capturing any new market structures, assets, or compliance needs. Their SaaS delivery model further ensures that technology costs are kept low and that upgrades are easily implemented.

• Keeping it all together.They know that you need to manage a vast range of unique commodity and energy risks. SDX trade and risk views are designed to consolidate all of your commodity derivative and underlying risk trades across all commodity and energy asset classes in one place, making your trade and risk management easier and more efficient.

• Market dataSuperDerivatives 24-hour global data management unit goes above and beyond to provide the most accurate independent data and analysis. Their award winning data is sourced from premium data providers including global and local commodity and energy brokers, market makers and exchanges. SDX data includes forward curves, volatility surfaces, and correlation term structures from the oil, natural gas, power, coal, refined petroleum, emissions, base and precious metals, agricultural softs/grains, livestock, freight, pulp and paper markets. SDX data is then subjected to unique and proven analytics and continuously calibrated against actual trades to ensure true reflection of the market. This generates smooth, continuous and arbitrage free forwards and volatilities for any tenors and strikes that banks, hedge funds, commodity producers and consumers use to validate their portfolios.

• Clarity in OTC markets.Their commodity & energy market data covers rate curves for every exchange and OTC traded commodity; implied volatility surface data for vanilla to very exotic instruments on a duration time from O/N to 10 years; Tenors from 1day to 10 years on all OTC and exchange expiries.

• Independent valuationsSuperDerivatives offers the most comprehensive and independent valuation service for energy and commodities, operated by its very own dedicated quantitative analysis team. Processing everything from vanilla swaps to extremely complex structures,they provide their valuation clients the ability to investigate the component factors used to derive the value of the trade.